A notice sent to Danny Smith, of Prunedale, shows a check for $50.64 was returned, despite the account having $744.70 in it. / Provided

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A Prunedale man says he found himself locked out of his and his wife’s bank account, causing disruption in their home and resulting in a number of bounced checks, all because Bank of America’s computer system lost his wife’s birth date.

Danny Smith, a 68-year-old retired business owner, said he left the house one morning in late January to run to a corner grocer for some cigarettes, but when he tried to pay for them, his debit card was declined. So, he paid cash and began to wonder what was wrong with his account. Later that afternoon, more bad news was delivered.

“We received notices in the mail that 12 checks had been returned,” Smith said. “Needless to say, we went down to the bank.”

Once at the north Salinas branch of BofA, the Smiths were informed that the bank had frozen their account. That’s when Smith said the conversation turned into a “commotion.”

“I was pissed. Don’t steal my money or there’s going to be a problem,” Smith said, anger still audible in his voice two months later.

The original customer service representative that day called over a vice president, Susana Avila, who looked up the account on her colleague’s computer. She then laughed, Smith said.

“My wife exploded,” he said. “I thought she was going to go over the counter.”

Messages left for Avila on Tuesday and another on Thursday were not returned by the end of business Thursday. A message left for Anne Pace, a consumer banking media representative for BofA in New York, on Tuesday was not returned by Thursday. A voicemail left for the bank’s media relations department Thursday was not immediately returned.

It didn’t help much when the Smiths were told it was a computer glitch that caused the account to be frozen.

“Because it couldn’t find my wife’s birth date,” Smith said. “They said they’re sorry, but I think it was an intentional act. This was no accident. When you have a mortgage with a place, they’re not only going to know your wife’s birthday, they’ll know your parents’ birthdays.”

Bank of America paid for service charges on the returned checks and issued a apology letters to businesses to whom checks were written, Smith said.

The glitch, if that is what it was, came at a bad time for Smith. The well on his property went dry from the drought, so he dipped into a money-market savings account with Merrill Lynch the couple had tucked away from when they had a framing shop in Seaside.

Merrill is an investment firm affiliated with BofA. But the $10,000 transfer floated around in cyberspace looking for an account that was frozen, spinning circles, if you will. Smith was forced to run a hose from his neighbor’s house to take showers.

The event also took a physical toll. Smith has multiple sclerosis, a nerve condition that can be exacerbated by stress.

“If a guy pulls out in front of you, or a bank takes your money away, you lose all your energy,” Smith said. “It can last weeks or months. This has lasted months.”

Dennis L. Taylor covers business and consumer issues for The Salinas Californian. Follow him on Twitter @taylor_salnews.